{"id":31274,"date":"2013-02-06T13:31:08","date_gmt":"2013-02-06T11:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=31274"},"modified":"2013-02-07T08:33:36","modified_gmt":"2013-02-07T06:33:36","slug":"mtrs-a-boost-for-voip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/internet\/31274\/mtrs-a-boost-for-voip\/","title":{"rendered":"MTRs a boost for VoIP"},"content":{"rendered":"

Internet Solutions<\/a>\u00a0says that the final interconnect rate cut, planned for 1 March 2013, will help foster a more\u00a0competitive telecoms market, with\u00a0VoIP<\/a> in particular set to gain.<\/p>\n

The cut in mobile termination rates (MTRs)\u00a0will bring the price down to R0.40.<\/p>\n

According to recent study conducted on behalf of the World Bank<\/a>, high prices across all of the South African mobile operators are a result of interconnection charges.<\/p>\n

In March 2012, the last round of interconnect rate cuts kicked in, taking peak mobile termination rates down from R0.73, to R0.56 per minute; and off-peak mobile termination rates down from R0.65, to R0.52 per minute.<\/p>\n

Operators\u00a0Vodacom<\/a> and MTN<\/a>\u00a0claimed\u00a0that the\u00a0rate cuts have had a significant impact on their bottom line.<\/p>\n

While further cuts, in line with the glide path set out in 2010 by the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa<\/a>), will continue to hamper SA’s listed\u00a0operators,\u00a0Internet Soultions believes the cut will spur competition in the market and be a big boost for the voice over IP (VoIP) telecoms market.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis price reduction in the interconnect rate is significant, and will prompt businesses looking to better manage cost to adopt IP-based communication and embrace more innovative technologies,\u201d said Wayne Speechly<\/a>, executive for communication services at Internet Solutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cLower termination rates stimulate competition by making it easier for new entrants in the market, as witnessed with the recent announcement by Orange<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

“This is one of the primary mechanisms that drive a reduction in call charges and the delivery of more affordable telecommunication services,\u201d Speechly said.<\/p>\n

The executive also predicts a migration from mobile networks to next generation VoIP services, as these will no longer be at a price disadvantage.<\/p>\n

The next step<\/h3>\n

Speechly said that Icasa should now finalise the next phase of regulations that govern the wholesale termination rates for the market.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe regulations promulgated on 29 October 2010 have now come to an end, and further intervention is required to continue wholesale interconnect rate reductions post 2013.”<\/p>\n

“Icasa needs to ensure that the industry can continue to rationalise the wholesale cost base, so that competitors can maintain a sustainable business.”<\/p>\n

“Levelling the input cost drives a more competitive market and ensures monopolistic behaviour is managed as best as possible,\u201d Speechly said.<\/p>\n

More on the South African mobile landscape<\/strong><\/h3>\n

World Bank takes swipe at SA mobile prices<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Mobile voice the next price war \u2013 analyst<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

MTN and Vodacom continue record surge<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

SMS revenue decline to continue: Vodacom<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Cell C: \u201clet the fight begin\u201d<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the final interconnect rate cut planned for 1 March 2013, Internet Solutions says the telecoms market is about to get a lot more competitive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":22182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9882],"tags":[26,97,28,27,1707,2466],"class_list":["post-31274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-internet","tag-headline","tag-internet-solutions","tag-mtn","tag-vodacom","tag-voip","tag-wayne-speechly"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31274"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31283,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31274\/revisions\/31283"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}